Guardian × Edward Cullen

six | no reason to stay

ASHER HAYWOOD WAS A MESS OF CONFUSION AND ANNOYANCE the next morning as he drove himself and the girls to the high school. "I'm still not sure why we were sent to Forks and not Seattle," he said, jabbing his thumb onto the power switch on his radio when it became apparent that all it would play was static. "We're needed there more than we are here. I mean,they're only after one vampire – and between eight veggie-vamps and that pack of shifters, they should be able to handle it themselves."

Sophia snorted at veggie-vamps. "Okay, but you saw Victoria last night," she pointed out."Clearly, she's good at getting away. And if they can't catch heron her own, we need to help them."

He ignored her. "And why the hell haven't the Cullens bothered to try and do something about the newborns themselves? They're right in the area, and it's the right thing to do –"

"They're not supposed to act as vigilantes, Asher," Clara spoke up, sparing him a glance as they pulled into the parking lot of Forks High. "The Volturi basically governs the vampire population –"

"– although they do a piss-poor job of it," Sophia muttered.

"– and if the Cullens stepped in before the Volturi did, they'd probably get into some bad trouble. I think that's why Carlisle is hesitant about taking action." She paused for a moment, her thoughts swirling around in her mind. "Plus, if Aro knows about Edward, Alice and Jasper's abilities, the Cullens are probably already on his radar. He's probably hoping for a reason to execute the rest of their coven and hope they'll join him."

Asher groaned as they got out of the car. "I really hate it when you're right, Clara."

She only smiled at him in response,and after a moment, the scowl on his face lifted into a small involuntary smile of his own. It was impossible for him to be completely in a bad mood when the blonde Guardian was around. She was just a genuinely good person.

"Who are they?" Sophia's question brought Clara and Asher's attention to the two russet-skinned guys standing by the steps of the high school. They were both tall and buff, with matching tribal tattoos on their upper left bicep. As they watched, Bella and Ethan approached, the latter of the two definitely not looking happy about their visitors.

"Shifters," Clara observed, her intuition feeling the different energy they gave off as they approached the school. "They must be from the pack."

"Why is the taller one staring over here?" Asher asked, his face twisting back into a scowl as he glared at the shifter.

"Who cares?" Sophia asked, her cheeks blushing slightly. "He's kind of cute." Asher grumbled under his breath, while Clara coughed to cover up the small laugh at her best friend's words.

"Clara!" Alice called out, waving at the Guardians from where she stood with her other siblings at their cars. The three of them switched direction and walked over there, instead. Edward murmured a soft hello as Clara stood next to him, and she greeted him with a gentle smile in response. "I don't think we ever thanked the three of you for your help the other night," the pixie-like vampire continued. "Especially you, Clara, for keeping Paul away from Emmett."

The burly vampire scoffed from where he stood with Rosalie tucked into his side. "I could've taken him," he grumbled.

He was ignored.

"Anyway," Jasper spoke up, "we just wanted to warn you about the shifters. They're dangerous to be around – when their temper gets the best of them, they phase, and anyone in close proximity can get very hurt."

The Guardians were confused. "And why do we need to know this?" Asher asked pointedly. "It's not like any of us are going to even talk to –"

"Hey!" They all turned around at the sudden voice, to see the taller Quileute jogging towards them with his gaze set on Sophia. It left her for just a moment, long enough to glare at the Cullens before returning to her. With a collective scoff of disgust, the family of vampires walked into the school – save for Edward, who remained next to Clara, while Bella, Ethan and the other shifter joined them.